What the ‘el is that? Elephant captures some interesting angles when it picks up a hidden camera in its trunk
- Herd of elephants walk through the Olifants West Nature Reserve in South Africa
- One of the elephants moves trunk towards hidden GoPro and gives it a sniff
- Another curious elephant picks up the camera and brings it towards its mouth
This is comical moment a curious elephant picks up a hidden camera left in its path and decides to give it a closer inspection.
Wildlife photographer Frank De Beer hid a GoPro in the undergrowth to film a herd of elephants at the Olifants West Nature Reserve in South Africa.
The camera’s footage shows the herd making its way across the park before one of them spots the hidden camera with its trunk and lifts it towards its mouth.
An elephant decides to inspect the hidden camera before lifting it off the ground at Olifants West Nature Reserve in South Africa
An elephant’s trunk moves towards the GoPro planted by wildlife photographer Frank De Beer
It then moves the camera around and captures a range of angles – including a short of the inside of its mouth – before tossing it to the ground.
The curious creature was the last in a line of elephants who walked over the GoPro and gives it a sniff.
One had been curious enough to give the camera a sniff but it then continued on its way.
Mr De Beer, who works as a guide at Simbavati Safari, said he was ‘very happy’ with what he was able to capture.
He said: ‘I was very happy with the result actually, especially when the elephant decided to taste the GoPro.
‘It’s extremely exciting because you never know what exactly you’ll film.
‘They can be very curious animals because they all have different personalities, some definitely more curious than others.
The animal uses its trunk to move the camera around and captures a range of different angles in the process
The elephant picks up the GoPro camera from the ground and moves it towards its mouth
‘Elephants can generally sense if there’s something that is not from their natural environment. In this case the elephant kicked the GoPro before investigating it.
‘He was trying to figure out what the foreign object was by touching and tasting it, after a few minutes he realised it’s not food or dangerous and lost interest.’
Over the years, Mr De Beer has been able to capture a range of footage of wildlife in South Africa.
In 2020, Mr De Beer had been walking in the Greater Kruger National Park, one of Africa’s biggest game reserves, in Limpopo, South Africa, when he spotted a black rhino charging towards him.
Fortunately the charge was more of a warning and the rhino ran off in a different direction, leaving Mr De Beer unharmed.
In 2017, the wildlife photographer managed to plant a GoPro near an elephant as it grazed along a dry river bed in Hoedspruit Limpopo, South Africa.
The camera was able to capture the elephant inspect the new device with its trunk before walking away.